Athletic devices for developing throwing or swinging techniques and strength can be grouped into two general categories. The first covers strengthening devices that use a resistive force for strengthening those muscles used in the motion of swinging (e.g., a tennis racket) or throwing a ball such as a baseball (e.g., pitching). In the second category are training devices for teaching a preferred technique of swinging (e.g., volley, serve) or throwing (e.g., a curveball, slider, etc.) without specifically targeting muscle development.
For baseball pitching (and throwing to a lesser extent), some representative devices in the first category include a non-elastic cord or rope that passes over a pulley secured to a fixed point. One end of the cord/rope attaches to a handle or ball while the other end connects to an inertial force or weighted object. The handle or ball is accelerated by being propelled through the air with the transfer of energy from the athlete's throwing hand. The opposing resistive force that is produced can strengthen some of the muscles an athlete uses in pitching a baseball. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,974,836, 5,158,517, 6,413,196, and 6,565,491.
Other devices in the first category produce a resistive force by stretching elastic material. Typically, those devices include an elastic cord with one end tethered to a grounded surface. At the opposite cord end is a handle or ball that the athlete pulls to produce a resistive force for strengthening some of the muscles used when pitching a baseball. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,652,085 and 4,846,471. These devices may develop some degree of muscle strengthening in the hand, arm and shoulders. But, they not specifically target the development of muscle coordination or conditioning typically required to properly pitch or throw. By varying degrees, the aforementioned limitations of these types of devices produce insufficient conditioning and coordination, or muscle development, to fully develop an athlete's capacity to pitch properly.
Numerous devices in the second category use a variety of methods to teach the proper techniques and mechanics of throwing a baseball. The devices of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,888,482, 4,984,789, 5,348,292 and 6,322,462 are each intended to train pitchers to use correct arm and elbow action when throwing a baseball. Generally, such devices do not disclose methods for strengthening or conditioning the athlete while teaching proper throwing techniques and mechanics.
In Biegen Published Application No. 2006-135291, there is shown a foamed structure with aerodynamic drag designed to train and strengthen an athlete's throwing motions. A baseball sized attachment extends from one end of that structure with a flexible strap. Alternate shapes are shown in FIGS. 5 through 7 of that reference.
Still other prior art devices include: the Y-shaped tether system of Scher et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,805; the weighted tube screwed into one end of a “sports” ball per Romanick U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,660; the ball throwing rehab/training device of Higgins U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,016 that uses several elastic band harnesses and a ball held on a frame; and their early predecessor, the weighted whirling exercise device of Busby U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,204.
There also exists several design patents pertaining to water bottle shaped exercising apparatus. See, for example, Van Der Hoeven, U.S. Pat. No. D359,090 with its contoured handle shape. In FIGS. 4 and 5 of Hwang U.S. Pat. No. D343,660, that bottle appears somewhat concave though in a different context. Still other handled shapes were design patent protected in Hall U.S. Pat. No. D299,153 and Egger U.S. Pat. No. D297,961. The aspect of a separate handle was eliminated by the aquatic exercise bottle shape in Day U.S. Pat. No. D339,839.
Water weighted devices are also the subject of Gordon U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,098. Therein, a handheld, dumbbell-shaped weight exerciser includes a drink reservoir in its central section. Contrast that with the liquid fillable dumbbell of Brown U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,587 having an alternate weight indicator means per FIG. 5. The primary focus of Jenison U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,051 was a collapsible, dumbbell. An alternate shaped, cylindrical version of same, with an integral handle, is shown in FIGS. 4 through 8.
Two published, pending applications, Allen et al. U.S. Published Application No. 2007-49135 and Joe U.S. Published Application No. 2006-223682, address cylindrically shaped, exercise devices with the former device accommodating granular material therein for rhythmic sound-making. By contrast, the Joe device has an elongated weight (item 17) tethered between tube ends.
A barbell with hollow, interlocking weights is the subject of Elmore et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,422. And finally, some degree of linear “deceleration” for hand exercising is shown and described in LeBlond U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,140.